


Except When It Isn't

by littlesolo



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 07:55:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 22,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5997769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlesolo/pseuds/littlesolo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A case isn't what it seems.  An abducted child leads to something much darker</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

If you asked Oliver, it had all started at the end of the forensics conference taking place. On the plus side, Holly had reconnected with a college friend named Beverly Katz, but on the downside she was gone most of the week. At least that was the downside according to Gail. Actually, Gail was surprised to find that she liked Beverly. The FBI agent seemed to run on the same wavelength that she did and that made having pizza and beers to unwind actually enjoyable instead of stilted and awkward. Holly was letting Beverly use her guest room instead of staying in a hotel, which meant Gail went back to her place at night where her bed would have felt too empty to be comfortable if she hadn't been too tired to care.  

Oliver would later say that having all the forensic experts in one place was begging for trouble. Whether he was right or if voicing his suspicion had jinxed it was still unclear, the first body was found at a construction site the last day of the conference.  

Holly had been attending a lecture when the body had been found but was now examining it for evidence in the morgue. Officer Collins was there as well, giving her a run down of what had been at the scene and of the witness statements in case it helped her analysis any. The body was male with dirty brown hair but other than that, it was hard to tell much else. His eyes had been pushed back into his skull and a large pipe had been forcefully shoved into his mouth and impaling him to the ground. The pipe had been transported with the body and when Holly removed it she found that there was no way dental records would be of any use when it came to identifying the body.  

_Monkeys_ , thought Holly to herself. Or at least, she thought she had.  

"What?" asked a voice from the doorway. Holly looked up to find more people than she remembered in her lab. Staring back at her was Sam, Steve, Chloe, and Nick.

"Um, just muttering, but the first thing that came to mind was those three monkeys. You know, hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? This guy is two out of three".  

"Oh! I love those monkeys! They're so cute! I guess this guy is a messenger monkey. His prints came back to a homeless guy. I guess just wrong place wring time" added Chloe. Holly gave them a smile and promised to keep them updated as the group left with Steve shooting her a friendly smile. Beverly came in dropping off Holly's notes as well as some additional ones from the presentation she missed.  

"Thanks for bringing my stuff back for me" called Holly from over the body.  

"No problem. Someone was certainly making a statement there" commented Beverly as she motioned towards the body with her chin.  

"Yeah. Any chance this is more of your of your area of expertise?"

"Nope. Not nearly violent enough. Also, it's not a pattern killer, or at least it doesn't appear to be and let's hope it stays that way."  Holly grimaced.

"You're always welcome to visit me here, but I don't think I'll be visiting your workplace anytime soon."  

* * *

Across town, Gail and Oliver were following a tip from an eye witness. In exchange for a hot breakfast burrito, another homeless person gave them the partial license plate of a truck seen leaving the scene early that morning. That had led them to a black utility pickup truck which was spotted by Chis and Nick down around the college district. Gail and Oliver had sped over to assist but the problem with the college area was that it packed in a lot of cheap housing which created a lot of side streets and alleys, and a lot of students rode bikes. Which got them to where they are now. The truck had last been seen along this small grouping of streets and they were checking them all in a grid pattern.

"Oliver, right there. That soccer mom van. It looks like it was side swiped by our truck". Oliver pulled off and called it in while Gail got out and took in the dead end alley. Minutes later, Callaghan was there along with Nick and Chris. The tire tracks indicated that someone had stopped for a moment to quickly unload something before taking off again but upon opening the van, they found nothing inside. So now there was nothing to do but wait for the forensics team to show up. Or at least that had been the plan until Oliver and Gail started hearing a banging sound from inside the van. Gail was about to open the floor compartment when Luke motioned her back. Gail rolled her eyes but let Luke take the lead. With Chris and Nick covering him through the van's other open doors, Luke leaned over and opened the latch.  

Only to be hit in the chest by a sharp kick. While Nick and Chris tried to get a clean shot at the attacker, Oliver and Gail yelled at them to stand down. Inside the compartment was a boy with duct tape over his mouth and around his hands and a scarf around his face. Gail called for a bus while Oliver leaned down and removed the scarf from around the top of the boy's head, revealing a pair of bright green eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, how are these two connected?" asked Frank as he leaned back to sit on his desk.  

"We've been tracking a company called Sytron for a while now. It's a subsidiary of the Dyad Institute and helps them look good while gain more funding. On the surface, it's an outreach program. It sponsors clean water filtration systems and building schools and hospitals in other countries. Beneath that is what looks to be both drug and human trafficking. But they're very specific. They want people with certain types or something else unique. The drugs are specific experimental ones or ones that are usually used for things like neural mapping, according to Dr. Stewart" explained Sam.  

"Why would someone need those in bulk?"

"We still don't know, but we were tracking what we thought was a courier taking a package to a drop site. From what we can gather, this kid must have seen something and so they decided to take him. I'm guessing the homeless guy saw the abduction and was then taken care of" finished Jo Rosati. She'd been working the case from the 27th and had been brought in to help out.  

"So, where is the boy now?" asked Frank as he rubbed his brow.

"On the way to the forensics lab" answered Jo.

"Wait, I thought he was alive?"

"He is, he is. There was just, ah, a problem when it came to getting him to go to the hospital" answered Sam as he scratched the back of his head.

* * *

Gail backed up and let Oliver gently remove the duct tape from the boy's mouth. Luke carefully placed the tape pieces in bags for the forensics team. Once his hands were free, Oliver escorted him to the back of the squad car to wait for the bus while Gail and the others marked off the scene and kept the emerging crowd of gawkers at bay. Andy and Chloe arrived to help keep things under control. Gail turned at the sound of yelling and rushed back to where the ambulance had arrived.

"C'mon, kid. We gotta take you to the hospital and make sure you're okay" explained Nick as he tried to coax the boy from the car. Chris had a grip on the door that the boy was trying desperately to pull shut. Oliver motioned for Nick and Chris to let go and the door swung quickly shut. Oliver looked at the boy through the squad car's barrier while Gail opened the other side door. The boy looked to be about twelve years old and his brown hair fell into his eyes. Dressed in a grey long sleeved shirt, jeans, and a old set of converse, he seemed especially small in the backseat.

"I know going to the hospital doesn't sound like fun bud, but we have to know that you're okay" explained Oliver in his calm Dad voice.  Gail watched as the boy started to all but vibrate, he was shaking so much.  

"What if we have the paramedics look him over here and then drive him down to the lab to have the forensics collected there? I mean that's what they'd do at the hospital right? They'd get better samples in the lab where they aren't being rushed by doctors and he wouldn't have to go to the hospital" commented Gail as she met the boy's gaze. As she explained her idea, he calmed down.

"Would that work for a compromise, kiddo?" asked Oliver. At the small nod, Oliver got out to get the medics while Gail stayed close by.

* * *

"Hey."  At the sound of Gail's voice,Holly looked up see Gail and a boy waiting at the entry way.

"Hey. Who's this?"

"This is my new friend. I don't know his name, but we're here so you can take all the forensic stuff you need from him". The boy cocked an eyebrow and gave Gail a look and she shrugged at him.

"What do I know? Science is her thing, not mine". Holly did her best to hide her grin. They had just finished with his hands when Luke and Nick came in. Nick tossed Gail a bag saying that Traci had dropped off some of Leo's clothes for the kid. Gail set them aside as Luke got ready to start interviewing the kid.

"Can't this wait until later? I mean the reason we brought him here was so that he wouldn't be overwhelmed" explained Gail.

"The sooner we do the interview the better, especially with kids" interjected Nick.

"Thanks Nick, I know procedure! I'm just trying to look out for him. I mean he hasn't said anything since we found him!"

Holly kept her focus on her work and was currently taking photos of a pair of taser marks she'd found behind the boy's neck. The redness around his mouth from the tape was beginning to fade but the area around his wrists was rubbed raw and an angry red. Gail's phone rang and when she pulled it out she saw it saw Frank. She started to turn away to answer it, she felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked over to see the boy not looking at her but keeping a firm grip on her uniform.

"I'll have to call you back sir, Detective Callaghan wants to interview the boy now".

Frank's voice came through the phone, "Until his advocate gets here, I want you looking after him, Peck."  

"Yes sir". Gail turned back to see Luke with his notebook ready in front of the kid.

"Everything okay Peck? Because I think Collins and I have got it from here". If anything the boy's grip tightened as Gail reached out for a nearby stool as she leveled Luke with her best glare.

"Well that was Frank. I'm in charge of looking out for him until the Children's Advocate gets here, and you know how long that usually takes". Luke let out a sigh and then turned back to the kid.

"Name?"

The boy took a drink from a water bottle Holly had given him before answering "Max Mason."

"Okay that's good! That's a start. Now where are you from?"

"Portland". His voice still had a rasp to it, either from screaming or disuse.

"And how old are you, Max?"

"Fourteen."  

"Okay, you're doing great Max."  Max rolled his eyes and shot Gail a look.

"Do you know who took you?"

"If I knew _that_ , I would have told you that before _my_ name". Luke sat back and flipped a page in his book. Nick decided to ask a question or two since it was clear Luke was getting frustrated.

"When we found you in the foot compartment, do you know how or who put you there?"

"No, but I had it feeling it wasn't him when you guys found me."  

"Yeah? How's that?" asked Nick as he sat across from Max.

"I kicked him in the chest to get away the first time."  

"But you were in a pickup truck before. So how'd that work?" interjected Luke.

"Yeah. I was in the utility compartment in the back. It was a bumpy ride. Look, I kicked him in the chest and ran, some homeless guy tried to help me, the guy caught up to me and hit the other guy and stuffed me back in the truck. Then there was lots of screaming and then we were driving again. Then he threw me into the van. And then you guys showed up and I'm guessing I kicked that guy" finished Max, pointing at Luke. Gail noticed that Max had a white knuckled grip on his chair.

"I think that's enough for now-."  

"No way Peck. We have more questions" said Luke as he stood up.  

"Gail, you know we have to ask these, even though it's hard. We had to when you were taken". Clearly, that was the wrong thing to say, and Nick realized it about a second after he said it. Gail closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Max hasn't eaten or slept since we found him and hasn't had a moment to himself. You guys go find out what you can. Find his parents-."  

"My Mom. It's just me and my Mom, Cara."  Gail put her hand on Max's shoulder.

"So, go tell his Mom he's okay". Nick left and so did Luke, but not before shooting his own glare at Gail.

"Well" said Holly as she pulled on her jacket, "we clearly need something that comes with fries right about now". Max changed his clothes, leaving the others for evidence, and was pulling on his new shoes. Gail updated Frank and shot Holly a grateful smile and then the three took off for the nearest diner.


	3. Chapter 3

Max had inhaled his cheeseburger, fries, and soda and was currently resting on the couch in Holly's office. Children's Services had eventually sent over a social worker to act as Max's advocate, but that had gone bad fast. Luke had asked for a second interview and Dov and Andy had arrived to escort him. Max had seemed to be doing okay when he was meeting the social worker, but the trouble started when they tried to get him to an interview room. He had started to panic as they guided him through 15 Division. It was Chris who had noticed first from his desk where he was working with Chloe. Max had gone pale and his breathing had gotten shallow. Chloe had followed his gaze and by the time they made their way over, Max was shaking and didn't seem to be able to move. All of this happened as officers and detectives walked by focused on their cases and not the boy stuck in the hallway. Chloe had gone to go get Frank while Chris went to see if he could help Dov, who was kneeling in front of Max and trying to help him breathe. Then Callaghan and Rossati came down the hallway asking what was taking so long. The swirling voices and the presence of so many people all at once was too much and Max seemed to crumple on the floor, covering his ears. Frank took one look at the boy and told Dov and Chris to take him outside for some fresh air. Frank then reassigned Andy and Chloe to canvassing and began to deal with both the irate detectives and the social worker.  

Chris and Dov had carried Max out the back where they ran into Oliver and Gail who were coming back from canvassing. Max was standing bent over and gradually taking deeper breaths.

"C'mon Max, that's it. Deep breaths. In and out" said Dov in what Gail assumed was supposed to be soothing instead of patronizing. Gail rolled her eyes and squatted a few feet away from Max.

"The kid didn't forget how to breathe Dov. If he could take a deep breath, he would". Gail remembered the panic attacks she'd had and being told how to breathe always made her want to hit her therapist. Max stood up only to let himself fall backwards and sit on the sidewalk next to Gail.

"So what happened?" asked Oliver around a mouthful of sandwich.

"The social worker showed up and Luke and Jo wanted to interview him" explained Chris.

"Ah, an ambush" stated Oliver with a nod, followed by him making a face and pulling a long pickle out of his sandwich. "Don't worry about it Max. Those two, no matter who you are, it would still read ambush."  

Frank came out a few moments later followed by the social worker. "Max, we can do the interview later but until then, I need you to go with Miss Whitlock". Without looking at her Gail felt Max grab her wrist. Gail glanced at him and saw that he was doing his best to hold it together, but the almost painful grip he had on her told her how close he was to falling apart.

"Actually Sir, before he goes anywhere Oliver, Sam, and I have some stuff we need to discuss with you" interjected Gail, careful to keep her voice even. Frank nodded and asked Chris and Dov to take Max back to forensics, since he'd been the most comfortable there. Only after Gail promised to stop by later, did he let go of her wrist.

* * *

In Frank's office, he got an update from Sam and Oliver. They had come across an old building that looked like it had been used as a holding station. There had been portable medical equipment and supplies to ship medical samples by courier quickly. By the looks of it, at least five children had been held there and moved recently. They had taken samples from the various cells and were comparing them to see if any of them matched Max. If he had been held there, maybe he could shed some light on to what they might be looking for.

"At this point Frank, our best option is to keep Max under police protection" finished Sam.

"Clearly, he has grown to trust Peck here and that might work during the day, but at night a male officer would probably be best" thought Frank aloud.

"Well, fortunately I have a brother. Steve could do night duty, couldn't he? I mean I could probably convince Max that Steve is okay" suggested Gail. Oliver shrugged and nodded, as did Frank who sighed and went out to explain the situation to the social worker.

* * *

After explaining the arrangement to a skeptical Max, Gail and Andy took Max over to talk with Holly in the lab.

"We called Portland PD and sent officers to tell your Mom that we found you, but she wasn't home and her car was gone. But we'll keep trying to find her" explained Andy. After jumping onto a stool, Max rolled his eyes.

"Of course she wasn't. She's out looking for me". Gail smirked. She didn't have kids but she knew if their kid was missing Oliver, Traci, and Noelle, would be out looking even in a freaking snowstorm.

"Okay Max. Do you remember where they drew blood from and if they injected anything?" asked Holly. Max nodded and rolled up his sleeve.

"They took five vials from my arm here, and injected something in the side of my arm and my neck. Um, they also knew that I had already gotten my flu vaccine, if that helps."  

"Actually, it does...can I see the back of your neck?" Max swiveled, giving Holly a better view. "Did they spray anything in your nose?"

"Yeah! The guy kinda got mad when it made me sneeze a lot but whatever."  

"I'm going to have to draw some blood to figure out what they injected you with" explained Holly with an expression that clearly said she wished she didn't have to. Max just sighed and rolled up his sleeve. Once that was done, Holly submitted it all to be analyzed. "To see what impact the nose spray had, which was likely filled with some sort of trackers, we'd probably need a brain scan and we'll have to wait till tomorrow on the blood work."  With that, Gail, Andy, and Max left to meet Steve at the hospital.


	4. Chapter 4

The hospital had given them a bunch of scans with various areas marked in a different color. Holly had explained that was probably what was in the nose spray, but until they knew what it was marking, it was of little help. Deciding to call it a day, the group grabbed some Chinese takeout and sat in a park near where Steve and Max would be staying. By the end of the meal Max had agreed that Steve seemed okay.

"What made you decide my sister was okay? I mean, ask anyone and they'll tell you that's a very daring choice" said Steve, earning him a kick in the shin. Max just shrugged around a mouthful of chicken lo mein.

"The other officers act like I'm either five or an idiot. The detectives get mad that I don't know more. Callaghan almost made it seem like I was lying at times. Sorry the view wasn't great from the storage compartment in the bed of a pick up". Gail and Steve shared a knowing look over Max's head. "Saw that" commented Max.

"Saw what? You've got your head buried in a container of noodles" said Gail. "Don't worry about Callaghan, he's probably just pissed that you got in such a good shot".

"Wait, what?" asked Steve.

"Yeah, when we were getting him out, Max here kicked him in the left shoulder with both legs" confirmed Gail with a nod.

"Nice" commented Steve, bumping his shoulder against The kid's. A small grin appeared on Max's face.

* * *

Retiring for the night, Gail drove over to Holly's to decompress a little. Flopping down onto the worn sofa, Gail let out a loud sigh. Holly walked over and settled into the space under Gail's head.

"Max seemed to get attached to you" commented Holly as she ran her fingers through Gail's hair.

"I know. I don't know why. I like him though". She shifted so she could look directly at Holly. "God, I can't believe it was this morning that we found him. Now we just have to hope that somehow his Mom tracks him here or the police find her."  

Before leaving for the airport, Beverly had told Holly she'd see if there was anything similar going on state side. So far, it looked like just the abductions were happening in the states and then being transported to Toronto. It all left Holly feeling sick to her stomach. While she really didn't want to find out this had happened to other kids, she was hoping she could find out what was being done and what to look for in case any of it put Max in danger. Gail and Holly went to bed and snuggled, doing their best to push out the unpleasant thoughts of the day.

* * *

It was about ten at night and Dov and Andy followed Jo to what looked to be an auto body shop. A few of the medical containers had been shipped back to this location. Rossati had been adamant that they check it out to make sure it was still used. Things spiraled from there. They had missed seeing someone on watch and were suddenly taking fire. Dov called it in while Andy did her best to cover Jo. Soon Sam and Chris had joined along with Luke and Chloe. When the shots stopped, they had three dead bodies and two men under arrest. Unfortunately, one of the dead bodies belonged to a young boy.


	5. Chapter 5

To say Frank was mad was an understatement. However, as mad as he was with his rookies, he was absolutely livid with Rossati. The blinds to his office were drawn and the door was shut but it did little to muffle his bellowing. Due to the importance of the case, the review board was doing their best to go through everyone as quickly as possible.

Andy was sitting at a desk having already filed her report and given her interview as to what happened but something was bothering her. There was something that didn't sit right about the shooting. She had gone over it a million times in her mind, but she couldn't place it and all she was doing was driving herself crazy. She needed someone to talk this over with but Traci was out investigating, having not been involved with the shooting. She spotted Nick over by the coffee pot. He was a bit like Luke when it came to investigations and rules, but that might just be the soldier part in him. Dov was a bit the same way and neither one would want to get anybody else in trouble, so they'd be of little help. Then Andy felt like hitting herself for being so stupid. Who else knew so much about how the police worked. She grabbed her jacket and called Gail to meet her at an out of the way coffee shop.

* * *

Gail was picking at a large cinnamon bun while she waited for McNally. She'd heard, like everybody else, about the shooting at the auto shop. Holly had been called in to do the autopsy. Gail had promised to be there for her in any way she needed her after her shift. She was trying her best at this relationship with Holly and while most things alluded her, she knew her girlfriend would need her after having to autopsy a child. She was jarred out of her thoughts when McNally sat down heavily into the chair across from her.

"Gail..." Gail waited a minute before she lost her patience.

"Spit it out McNally!" Andy jumped a bit in her seat before nodding and leaning closer.

"You trust your brother right? How's his relationship with Luke and Jo?" Gail started to wipe her hands and get up.

"If you're asking if my brother is dirty, he's not. Now I'm leaving". Andy quickly grabbed Gail's arm as she started to walk past and pulled her back. " _McNally, if you don't leggo I'm going to hit you so hard..."_

"That's not what I meant! Look, I've got no one else to go to right now! Just hear me out. I just want to know what he thinks of them."  

"How the hell should I know? As far as I know they're detectives but that's it. I mean Steve is Guns and Gangs and Luke and Jo are Homicide so if they talk much it's probably to steal cases from each other. What the hell is going on?" Andy lowered her voice and leaned in as did Gail with a roll of her eyes.

"I just need to know if he'd be objective, and it sounds like he would".

"Objective about _what_?"

"There was something wrong with that shooting."  

* * *

Gail had quickly gotten up, yanking Andy along, and driven them to the same park that she'd had dinner with Steve and Max the night before. Steve and Max showed up a few minutes later, Max in a new set of clothes and Steve's hardly ever used ipod in his hands. Steve just shrugged at Andy's raised eyebrow.

"I keep my music on my iphone and I gave him the fifty buck gift card Mom gave me. He uploaded his stuff from his account...music, movies, games. Some extra clothes and we were set". Max tucked the ipod in his pocket and took off for the swings. Gail watched as he pumped his legs to go higher. She was sure that any opportunity to be outside and play seemed a little like heaven now. It was a long way from Portland in such a cramped space.

Andy took Gail and Steve through the events of last night. How Rossati took her and Dov in without waiting for backup. Steve initially had seen how Jo might have felt it was their only chance but as Andy went on, the Peck siblings found other troubling questions. For instance, in all the bullets how is it that only a handful wound up towards the cells and one in the gut of the boy. And those bullets had to come from one of ours. Also, the lackeys had done a good job of shooting the computers and making most of them unusable, but some of them were again, ours. Having been there first with Jo and Dov, Andy knew for a fact that there hadn't been anyone near the cells or the computers that she could remember. The guys attacking them had been over by the cars, using them for cover.

"Hey kid!" called Gail. Max dropped off the monkey bars and ran over to where the others were. "Listen up Max, from now on you make sure to stay with either me, Steve, Oliver, or Andy here. And the only detectives you talk to is Steve or Traci, who you'll meet later. But _that's it_ " explained Gail, having grabbed Max firmly by the shoulders.

"What about Dr. Stewart?" asked Max.

" _Who_?" Andy had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the absolutely perplexed look on Gail's face.

"He talking about Holly" explained Andy. Gail shook her head clear.

"Yeah, she's okay too of course, but the rest of us can protect you if something happens."  

"What's going on?" asked Max as he sat down across from Gail and Steve.

"It looks like Detective Rossati might be involved somehow."  

"Gail!" exclaimed Andy. She knew Gail could be blunt but this was a lot for a traumatized kid.

"What? He should at least know what to watch out for" reasoned Gail.

* * *

Max stuck with Gail and Andy as they made their way to the forensics lab. Steve went to go meet Traci and Oliver for lunch and bring them up to speed. Once they got there, Gail checked in with Holly to see how she was holding up.

After a much needed hug, Gail asked about the boy that had been brought in. After giving Holly a vague explanation and a promise to tell her more later, Holly told her that the boy had been identified as James Boland. A missing person's report had been filed by his parents back in Portland. Holly had to explain to Frank that a bullet had ripped through the left side of his abdomen and he had bled out so that Frank could explain it to the parents, should they ask. Unfortunately for everyone, they did. They were flying in to claim the body. Most of the time Gail didn't know what to do with people which is why she tried her best to avoid them, especially when they were emotional. But when Holly all but collapsed into Gail's side, her hands automatically went to hold her and rub soothing patterns on her back. After a few deep breaths, Holly collected herself and the two of them walked over to the break room where Max and Andy were still waiting.

"Hey Max, did you know a James Boland?" asked Gail, earning her alarmed looks from both Holly and Andy.

"Jimmy? Yeah. He's a year ahead of me in school but sometimes we hangout after school. Why?"  
Gail heaved a sigh and sat down across from Max. It was going to be a long day...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: I like the idea of Gail being so close to Holly that the name Dr. Stewart just doesn't even register to her. She's just her Holly to her. Possible Dr. Holly but still, Holly.


	6. Chapter 6

Things were not getting any clearer yet. Max and Jimmy had both known each other and had even gone to the same school, but that's where the similarities seemed to end. It had been decided that the best course of action would to ask about Max when the Bolands arrived but keep him as far from them as possible. As far as they were to know, it was simply a similar abduction and a possible connection to their son's case.

The interview with the distraught parents had gone about as well as could be expected. Their son was an average student, but bright and was also into soccer. Jimmy used to play all the time with his friends (Max included) but since he'd joined the school team, he'd seemed to lose his passion for it. It wasn't the other players, it was the practices and the coaches. Jimmy said it just wasn't fun anymore. The fun had been in the team all deciding their strategy together, the spontaneity and letting everyone play. The school team was too restrictive for it to have any of the fun it use to have for him. Apparently, Jimmy had gone missing a month ago and the parents had been frantically searching ever since.

* * *

Holly was grateful that Jimmy's face had come out of the fire fight unmarred. The rest of he body would be covered by clothes. It was odd, given her job, but morticians still gave her a creepy feeling sometimes, but she was sure they would do an excellent job with the body. It was the face though that mattered to Holly the most, especially when it came to children. It was the face of the child the parents had raised, had tucked in at night, had soothed when they were sick. It was what the parents had to say goodbye to. Pictures weren't the same in her opinion because there were always pictures. If you said goodbye to a picture, your family photo albums keep you from ever truly finding piece and then you have the family and friends you shared photos with. God help you if they forget they have a photo of your son playing with theirs on a bookshelf because you won't be able hold yourself together. And then there are memories, but those get distorted with time.

Gail had held her, wrapped in the sheets on her bed as she explained all this, listening and letting Holly process in her own way. It had been a while since Holly had been able to do so, not wanting to share with the one night stands and the few other girlfriends she had shared her thoughts with had found it excessively morbid, given her job.

Gail had just listened without judgement though and held her close. Gail had told her about a small playground that was near her house and how she loved to swing there when she was little. She told her about the "Peck Family rite of passage" and how on the way back to her house, she had stopped and taken a turn on the swing for a bit, trying to pull herself together. She still liked to swing, and until they were hanging out with Max, hadn't thought about how long it had been since she'd been on one.

That night, Holly was able to sleep without the usual nightmares that came with this kind of a case.

* * *

Oliver was talking to Holly as she went to get Max from the labs break room. Gail waved at them as she took a call on her phone. A call from one of Holly's assistants had them turning back for a few minutes but then they made their way back towards Max.

Those few minutes though were all it took for Nick to get by with none of them noticing.

"Kid, I need you to come with me to talk to the detectives" said Nick as he grabbed Max's shoulder to guide him. Max yanked out of his grip and backed up a few steps.

"No, I don't do cars."

"You did with Steve" countered Nick, growing tired of the special treatment everyone was giving this kid.

"Yeah. His car doesn't have that barrier thing that makes me feel trapped, so no". Nick stepped closer and did his best to put on his calm face.

"Look kid, I get it. Gail and I are close and she was abducted once. But she got through it, and you will too. Now come on". Max looked at Nick's outstretched hand for a moment before backing up another step.

"Ten bucks says she didn't leave the hospital with you" said Max as he turned towards the soda machine and put in some change. Nick was thrown for a moment. _How could he possibly know that? I doubt Gail told him..._

"Look..."

"No, _you_ look. GAIL gets it, not you. Not until you spend some time in the trunk of a car with your hands tied and blindfolded. I can't do the station anyway, it freaks me out" said Max as he picked up his drink from the machine. Nick was done playing nice.

"Look, I told Callaghan and Rossati I was bringing you so let's go". Nick grabbed at Max's wrist and yanked him forward only to have Max swing and hit him in the crotch with his soda can. Nick fell to his knees but made a last attempt to grab Max, resulting in Max twisting his thumb back. Max then sped out of the room and ran straight into Gail as she came back down the hall. Nick followed a few steps behind, holding his abdomen with one hand and pointing at Max with the other.

"He's coming with me Gail" gasped Nick.

"For what?" asked an incredulous Gail as she pushed Max behind her.

"To talk with Jo and Luke and then be charged with assaulting an officer".

"He's not going anywhere. They wanna talk to him, then they come here" responded Gail.

"That's not your call Gail."  

"No, it's mine" interjected Oliver, "as well as Frank's direct orders, so there shouldn't really be any reason for you to take Max anywhere."

"I'm just trying to follow Rossati's orders, sir" responded Nick as he clenched his jaw. With that Nick turned to leave, but not before he overheard Max and Gail:

"You're not still dating that asshole are you?"

"What? No!"

"Max! Language!" added Oliver.

"You find me a better word and I'll use it. Till then, I'll stick with that one."  

* * *

Oliver and Gail settled back into the break room with Max.

"Okay, so what happened with Nick?" asked Gail.

"He came in to take me in for my thousandth interview and I said no- _Oliver don't open that!_ " cried Max.

Fortunately, Oliver was used to losing soda cans under his car seats when he went to his girls soccer games and had made a habit of always opening the can facing away from him, and right now, pointed towards the sink. As the soda fizzed all over, Oliver set it in the sink and rinsed his hands.

"And you knew that was going to happen how?" asked Oliver.

"I used the can to become Officer Collins least favorite person...". Max then told them everything that had happened with Nick. Gail raised an impressed eyebrow but Max just shrugged. "Mom taught me self defense and that anything can be used as a weapon" he finished shyly as Oliver smirked.

"Well, I was on the phone with Chris who was kind of panicking because he didn't know what to do, but the shooting didn't sit right with him either. So, now he knows to keep you away from Rossati and Callaghan" explained Gail.

"Do you guys think both of the detectives are in on it?" asked Max.

"Nah, but Callaghan and Rossati have history, so it'll be harder for us to make him see it" explained Oliver. "Oh, and if you ever want to talk, Gail and I actually _have_ been there, so there's that". Max glanced at Gail who leaned back and nodded.

"We'll have to get donuts first though."

It seemed that sides were being picked in 15.


	7. Chapter 7

"Son of a bitch!" grumbled Steve as he walked into Holly's lab.

"Something wrong?" asked Holly as she glanced up from her computer.

"Ah, I've been playing Max in chess over our ipods and the kid is kicking my ass". Holly did her best to bite back her grin.

"You said you found something?"

"Yeah, we're just waiting for Frank, Sam, and Luke."

Despite everyones suspicions about Jo, they couldn't exactly pull her off the case. The minute she thought something was up, any remaining children being held would probably be killed. The best they could come up with for now was to include Luke, knowing he'd fill her in later. The others came in a few minutes later and Holly did her best to ignore the tension between Sam and Luke. She stole a glance at Steve and saw that he felt it too. Something was up.

"Dr. Stewart, if you could tell us your findings?" asked Frank politely.

"Sure. With James Boland, I found the same sort of markers that we found on Max's brain scan. It looks like the were measuring how they processed things-" explained Holly.

"Like comprehension" finished Rossati as she strolled in, missing the looks both Sam and Steve gave her.

"Not exactly..." corrected Holly.

"Close enough" pushed Jo. Holly didn't know what this detective's deal was aside from Gail telling her that she was probably dirty, but she wasn't going to let her skew the facts.

"No. Nowhere near" answered Holly firmly. "They looked at how the boys dealt with the tests they gave them. What those were, I can't be sure of, but my lab assistant Jonathan is coming close to recovering some of the data. Anyway, it would look at which parts of the brain were used first or effected first. For instance, if it was a physical test and given everything Max had been through already, his first response might have started at the amygdala which is responsible for, among other things, fear. I'm still doing an analysis, the markers will have faded more from areas that were used more frequently. But that's not all I found. These markers are years beyond anything available to the public or any neurological studies that I've looked into. They are far more precise." Holly had noticed the look of irritation on Rossati's face all during her explanation, but Holly couldn't care less. Still, she was grateful when Steve moved between the two of them. "My friend Beverly was at the conference and said she'd look into any similar cases state side-."

" _Hey!_ Where do you get off pulling in law enforcement from beyond our borders in on our case!" shouted Rossati as she took a couple of steps towards Holly. The fact that the pathologist did nothing more than quirk a bored eyebrow at her just made her madder, but she was forced to take a step back when Frank raised his hands signaling for everyone to calm down.

"How well do you know this person and what did she find?" asked Frank carefully. He trusted Dr. Stewart but, he didn't want this case getting away from him. Right now, the Mason boy was safe but who knew how long that would last once others were involved.

"I've known Beverly since High school and through college. She's a pathologist for the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. She found eighteen cases that match from the abductions right down to the fading brain markers. She's flying in later today to share what she's found and to help with the case. The FBI isn't claiming jurisdiction, they just want us to let them know if they can help in any way." The thought of eighteen more dead children had made Holly immediately nauseous, and Beverly, knowing her friend, had called back after she'd figured Holly was done being sick. As awful as all of this was, Holly was comforted by the fact that her best friend was going to help her solve it. As much as she loved 15th Division, there was no one else's opinion she trusted more than Beverly's because she saw not only the science, but the human aspects of the evidence at the same time.

"Frank, do we really need a Fed here? I mean they'll say they just want to help but then they'll take over" argued Luke, and Sam didn't miss the way Jo seemed to puff up at his support.

"Yes. If Dr. Stewart trusts her and thinks she can help, then by all means. Because so far, including the Mason boy, we've got twenty cases of abducted children being medically tested on for unknown reasons and it's getting them killed. And it's all been happening in our city and we had no idea. So if a pair of fresh eyes can help, let them." Frank then turned and walked out, rubbing his hand down his face as he went. Jo and Luke followed a few moments later after Luke had clapped Sam on the shoulder and Jo had given Holly a look that could kill. Once they were gone, Steve made sure they, and everyone else, was out of earshot before bringing Holly and Sam up to speed on the situation.

* * *

Gail was waiting outside the airport for Beverly with Max in the back seat. The kid was lost in whatever music he was listening to, but she didn't miss the death grip he had on the door's armrest or how his fingers kept twitching towards the handle. Things were getting more complicated by the day. There were still people in 15th Division whose side she didn't know. Noelle would side with Frank but they would both be thinking about what was best for the kids. Also, they were the ones who had to be kept out of the loop the longest. The only real questions were Chloe and Dov. Then there was the fact that they had no idea how many officers from Jo's Division were in on this as well. A knock on the window jolted Gail from her thoughts and she turned to see Beverly Katz raise a bemused eyebrow at her.

As they drove back to the station, Gail filled in Beverly on the situation with Jo and who they could trust at the moment.

"So, you're Holly's girlfriend. Aside from pizza and beers, you didn't come around much" commented Beverly as she relaxed in her seat.

"Thank god" mumbled Max from the back seat.

"What's that kid?" asked Gail as she glared at him in the rearview mirror.

"Hey, I like Holly! She's smart and funny. Unlike Nick who's an asshole who can't tell his ass from his elbow" threw back Max.

"Hey, he's not that bad. Or at least, he didn't used to be" said Gail quietly.

"Well, he is now. Otherwise, he'd see the crap right in front of him. Plus, he keeps comparing my situation to yours. Maybe that helps us get along so well, but it just makes him a dick." Gail couldn't help but silently agree. Nick had changed and it had happened way before she had met Holly, but her new found happiness with the woman didn't help the situation. If anything, he simply got more passive aggressive or hostile when you called him on it.

"Hey kid, what are you listening to anyway?" asked Beverly, gently changing the topic.

"The Eels" answered Max as he met her gaze from beneath wisps of his hair.

"As long as 'New Alphabet' is on there, we're good" remarked Beverly as she shot him a grin.

"So you're another scientist like Holly?" asked Max, putting his music on pause.

"Yeah. We went to school together too" said Beverly.

"So, besides you being FBI, what makes you different than Holly? I'm just curious."

"My gun. I look at both the evidence and the behavior and pattern parts of the crime, and that takes me out of the lab a lot more" answered Beverly. This seemed to satisfy Max since he figured Beverly would be one of the people looking after him besides mostly Gail and Steve.

* * *

Sam was still digesting everything Steve had told him. Someone was doing experiments on the brains of kids and cops were in on it? That was sick. He was getting a soda from the machine as he watched Peck show some woman to Frank's office. He guessed that was the Fed that Dr. Stewart was talking about earlier. As he opened the can, he scanned the rest of the room and caught Nick glaring a hole through Peck's back. Shaking his head, he made his way over.

"Collins! I don't know what's going on with you and Peck, but get it together! We've got kids missing and turning up dead" whispered Sam angrily as he turned Nick away from the others.

"Sir, Gail..."

"Gail doesn't have a problem getting her job done. You spend half of your time giving her the stink eye instead of focusing and maybe catching something we've missed. Now either settle it later or let it go, but get your head where it needs to be" whispered Sam as he poked Nick in the chest to make his point.

Frank called Sam into his office and after shooting Nick another long look, Sam left.


	8. Chapter 8

Beverly's arrival brought some much needed, but still sickening, information. These experiments seemed to been taking place for about two years. The first children that were experimented on seemed to experience the harshest side effects. Beverly hadn't been able to get a full breakdown of the chemicals that were in their bloodstreams but there was enough to determine that the children must have felt like they were being burned from the inside out. Some of the other experiments dealt with things like pain suppression and cell regeneration, but the tests the children were put through to see if the results were successful were absolutely horrifying. Somewhere along the way, the scientists (if you could call them that) switched methods and began focusing on the brain and altering the way messages were interrupted there. Beverly had gone to confer with Holly to see what type of results they were looking for with James and Max.

The whole thing left Noelle, Traci, and Oliver feeling sick to their stomachs and wanting to rush home and hug their kids. Frank had half a mind to turn his house into a fortress to keep his daughter safe.

* * *

Gail was in the forensic lab with Beverly and Holly and was watching Max put together a thousand piece puzzle that she thought she'd never have the patience for, but was actually enjoying. Everything that Beverly had told them had painted a very grim picture. All Gail could think was that not even the Peck family rite of passage would have prepared her for something like that. She turned to look at Holly and Beverly, or "Katz" as she'd heard Holly call her a few times, pour over all the files she'd brought with her. Normally, she would have found the way Max didn't even look at a piece for more than two seconds before knowing where it went annoying, but watching him pick up piece after piece and put them in place was actually kind of fun in a weird way. It had been decided that tonight Max would stay with Beverly at her double hotel room, just as an extra precaution.

Gail was just settling in to help with the puzzle when she saw Jo and Luke get off the elevator. Holly noticed as well and nudged Beverly after the two detectives had walked by.

"Something we can help you with detectives?" asked Gail in an even tone.

"We need to interview the boy, Peck. In private. And since he won't leave here, it means you have to" ordered Rossati, doing her best to look intimidating. Luke gave Gail a sympathetic look but cocked his head towards the door just the same. Gail had no intention of leaving and was just about to tell Jo that when Max reached over and grabbed the cuff of her sleeve in a death grip.

"She stays" said Max firmly, leaving no room for argument. Luke was willing to relent, but Rossati wasn't having it.

"Look kid, you've got people bending over backwards for you already. Don't push it."

"Or what? Odds are that if the guys that took me find me, they'll kill me. But on the off chance that they don't, they will the minute they find out I said anything. Gail stays or you can go back and work with what you already have. With all the boxes Beverly brought with her, I don't see how I'd be very useful anyway." Gail had to hand it to the kid, he was good. Not only was he right, but Rossati looked about ready to blow her top. Chloe knocked on the door frame.

"Hey Max, a state trooper found your Mom filling up at a gas station still looking for you. The FBI is having a chopper fly her up here. She'll be here by the end of the day" announced Chloe with her usual happy smile, and for once it didn't bug Gail. Max's whole face lit up, while Rossati's mood only seemed to grow darker.

"How about that, champ? There's some good news for a change" said Luke, but his over the top enthusiasm made Gail wince.

* * *

Nick had been out all day with Dov tracking down any potential medical suppliers. He didn't get it. Yes, what was happening to all these kids was awful, but their best lead was sitting in the forensics lab with all of 15 treating him like he was some fragile cup! They should be pushing him, making sure they had everything he knew, anything he overheard, what kind of food he had to eat! Anything that could give them a point in the right direction! Another thing he didn't understand was Gail's attachment to this brat. Sure, they had some trauma in common, but other than that Gail didn't like kids. For some reason she had decided to become this kid's defender and it was holding up the case! As if all that weren't bad enough, now they had a Fed here. Dov agreed that the Fed being around wasn't good, that'd she'd just take the whole case from them. Thank you Holly. Nick was getting tired of her too. Yeah, he and Gail had drifted apart, but that's what they did. It was like after he came back from undercover, Gail slugged him but then later they got together and were hotter than ever. They fought and made up, it was part of the allure of the ice queen. It all just went to show how well he knew Gail, and Gail wasn't a lesbian. Dov jarred him from his thoughts as they pulled up to another possible distributor.

* * *

"Look, a trip from Portland to Toronto is at least two days, and that's if you're really pushing it. We're betting it took you about three since they wanted to avoid suspicion" started Luke as he mixed his coffee. Jo was less patient and knocked the puzzle piece Max was holding from his hand.

"So what did you eat? Where did you go to the bathroom? You had to notice some thing, you're not totally stupid here" barked Jo impatiently. Gail glared at her, but Max kept his cool. Out of the corner of her eye, Gail noticed that Agent Katz was taking in everything that was going on.

"I _noticed_ that the sleeping bag and pillow in the utility compartment smelled moldy and whenever the guy opened the hatch, I got a headache because the sunlight was so bright. I ate cheeseburgers and sodas, after I figured out how to drink them without making them spill all over. Truck rest stop bathrooms are surprisingly clean but if we weren't near one, the woods worked okay. That help your investigation, or should I try and remember the number of urinals too?" Gail ducked her head to try and hid her smirk, but nobody would have noticed anyway with the way Max and the detectives were glaring at each other. Suddenly, an alarm went off in the lab. Gail pulled Max from his seat and shoved him behind her as she drew her gun. Beverly had done the same and was looking for any signs of danger. Holly waved ran over towards a different section of the lab.

" _It's a fire alarm! From over in the tech department!_ " yelled Holly to be heard over the blaring alarm. The group rushed towards the lab and saw a technician with flames still on the arms of his lab coat, reaching inside the fire cabinet for a blanket. Holly helped him while Beverly grabbed another one and took it to the computer parts he had been working on, trying to save as much of his work as she could. A futile effort since moments later, Rossati came in with a fire extinguisher and doused everything in sight.


	9. Chapter 9

Aside from a bit of singed hair, Holly's lab tech was fine. Jono's lab coat had taken most of the flames and he'd gotten to the fire blanket before any serious damage could be done. The same could not be said for his work. The foam spray had made anything on the exposed hard drives useless. Frank had come as soon as the station was alerted that the fire alarm had gone off. While Holly and Jono explained everything, Gail went back to the break room with Max and Beverly.

Max was laughing at something the agent had said when Jo leaned against the door frame.

"So is it just _us_ you have trouble with? Because it sure doesn't look like you have any problems talking with the _FBI_ " observed Jo bitterly.

"Just you" spat back Max. Holly looked tired as she appeared in the hall behind Rossati, and after sharing a look with Beverly, Gail went out to meet her. Unfortunately, she was followed by Rossati. Luke came from down the hallway and Beverly stood in the doorway, listening while making sure no one would get to Max.

"Jono will be fine-" started Holly with a heavy sigh.

"Shame about all his work though" said Luke as he scratched the back of his head in frustration.

"Not quite. Jono is very careful when it comes to his work. He backed up what he had on portable drive he had in the pocket of his coat. It's fine and has everything on it. He'll go over it with us after the EMT is done with him." As Luke nodded and went to make himself another cup of coffee, Gail pulled Holly to her in a hug. Jo tucked herself around the corner and scowled at her feet, something that didn't go unnoticed by Beverly.

"Today seems to have gone on forever. I don't even remember having lunch" mumbled Holly into the shoulder of Gail's jacket. The little bit of refuge she got from Gail's arms and scent was almost enough to erase the horrors of this case from her mind. She nuzzled deeper and felt Gail tighten her hold in response. She turned her head just a tad to see Max looking at them as he worked on his puzzle. They'd been keeping him physically safe, but it occurred to Holly that it was very likely he'd overheard parts of the case. He was doing his best, but something in his eyes told Holly that he was still very afraid.

"Jono also backs up his work into the cloud as he goes. Only he and I have the password and it's on a private server" whispered Holly so that only Gail could hear. Gail kept her face impassive but gave once last squeeze as Jono came towards them.

Jonathan Dunkleman couldn't be more than twenty six years old but he was one of Holly's favorite lab techs. He did great work in all areas from prints to reconstruction but he was best at computer based work. He didn't mind the long hours and whenever Holly needed a favor, the most he ever asked for was change for a soda from the machine. Running one hand through his curly mess of black hair, he set a laptop on a table.

"Um, I'm going to need Max here..." said Jono as he looked at all the people around him.

"Already buddies?" asked Luke with a grin, missing Jo's accusatory look.

"Well, I could call him by the patient number they gave him or a lab rat, but it seemed kinda rude" said Jono absently as he got the program running. Max sat next to Jono on a stool and looked at the screen.

"Is that my _brain_?"

"Nah, that's a bunch of different brains, but one of them is yours. So, when they sprayed that stuff in your nose, it made a bunch of little markers all over your brain" explained Jono as he drummed his fingers on Max's head. "Think of it like your brain being a big dry erase board. You know how if you bump the writing on one, some of it comes off? Well that's what happened every time you used a certain area of your brain. Now with you, it looks like it was observing both how you used your senses and how you applied them to deciding what tactics you were going to use. Like with the puzzle you've got going. How are you choosing which pieces to pick up next?" Max shrugged before taking a moment to give it some thought.

"Color helps, but it's not really useful with this many pieces. I go by shape. How many openings and how many bumps. When color is a factor, I look at which direction it's flowing or the shadows. I mean, it's a stormy night seascape, so it's more about hues and shadows than blacks and blues" explained Max stiltedly, since he was putting into words for the first time something that had seemed somewhat instinctual.

"Okay, cool. It's that type of thinking that set off dots all over the front part of your head. I figure they were taking you to a testing facility to run more detailed tests but we intercepted you. Do you remember any of the tests they had you do?"

"Just some weird strategy and logic puzzles on a tablet" said Max as he scratched his arm.

A knock from the lab's front glass door had them all turning towards it to see Chris.

"Hey Gail, Max's mom is going to be at the airport soon. I'm going to get her, okay?"  Gail turned to Max.

"Do you want me to go with him to get your Mom?" asked Gail. Max nodded and moved to Jono's other side.

"I'll be fine here with Holly and Beverly." Gail nodded and gave him and Holly a smile before leaving with Chris.

* * *

"So how did the fire start?" asked Luke as the door swung shut.

"There were some officers from the 27th wanting to make sure all the computer evidence was accounted for. I told them that this wasn't the place to do that and they had to leave. We got into an argument and then the hard drive was on fire" explained Jono.

" _Hey!_ Don't go trying to blame officers from my division for your incompetence! For all we know, you spilled your drink all over it and tried to cover it up with the fire!" shouted Jo.

"Bring a drink into the work area? You're kidding, right?" asked Jono in disbelief.

"I'd like to know what your officers were doing in our lab" asked Holly in a tone that Beverly knew meant business.

"Their jobs, _obviously_ " threw back Rossati, getting more defensive by the minute.

"Then you must not train them very well at the 27th, since even a rookie knows you could find that information in the case log at the station" replied Holly evenly. Jo looked ready to hit the pathologist but both Beverly and Luke stepped between the two.

"Not speaking as a Fed right now, Holly is practically my sister, so before you go and throw that punch, know that I taught her how to fight and that I'm quicker and know more tricks than you" said Beverly as she crossed her arms. Luke threw her a look that clearly said ' _not helping_ ' before turning to Jo.

"What were your guys doing here Jo."

"How the hell should _I_ know? That's if they even were and all this isn't some story made up by her lab monkey to cover his ass!"

"Because it'd totally make sense for him to go through all that trouble since he had a back up..." muttered Holly, which only had Rossati starting to turn towards her again. Luke guided her to the door and the two detectives left, Rossati's arguing echoing down the corridor.

"You totally could have taken her, boss" said Jono with a nod, a matching one given by Max. It managed to bring a smile to Holly's face.

* * *

Chris and Gail had picked up Cara Mason from the airport and were on their way back. With  
her tanned skin and blonde hair, it was hard to see the resemblance until you saw the green eyes that matched her son's. She looked exhausted but was using all the energy she had left in her to keep from collapsing until she had her son in her arms again. Chris had gotten them coffee on the way to the airport and they were half way back when a dark red car cut them off, making Chris jam on the brakes and one of the large cups of hot coffee spill all over Gail's jacket and front.

"Dammit Chris! That coffee was still hot! And you're paying the dry cleaning!" shouted Gail as she shrugged out of her soaked jacket. The freezing temperatures weren't helping her now wet and cold uniform either. Cara had shrugged out of her own green and purple jacket and handed it forward.

"Here, put this on before you freeze to death" said Cara as she nudged at Gail. Any other time Gail would have refused, but the temperature had been seven degrees at noon and now it was around seven at night. Slipping on the jacket, she thanked Cara as she saw the woman pull another dark blue jacket from her duffle bag.

Suddenly, their car was hit from the left and they went skidding across the road and spun into the guard rail. Gail heard a ringing in her ears and could taste blood from what she guessed was her nose due to the airbag. The ringing turned into the blaring of the car horn that Chris was somehow pressing against. Then there was an icy wind on her face and she could feel herself being lifted from the car and dragged to another one. She heard voices, but her head was too rattled to make anything out. Her face came into contact with the fabric of the car's back seats just before she passed out.

* * *

Oliver came rushing into the lab to find Max back at his puzzle and Holly and Beverly hunched on either side of Jonathan.

"There's been an accident. Chris and Max's Mom are a little banged up and at the hospital, but it looks like Gail was taken" announced Oliver.

" _What?_ " whispered Holly.


	10. Chapter 10

Oliver had taken Max and Holly to the hospital, Beverly staying right by her friend's side since she seemed to be in a state of shock and hadn't said a word since. Max looked just as worried and was absently scratching his arm so much that Oliver was afraid it would bleed soon. He also hadn't let go of Holly's hand.

* * *

At the hospital, Max was quickly reunited with his mother and while Beverly and Oliver were finding out what happened from Chris, Beverly saw Max explaining something to his Mom. Detective Rossati arrived about a half hour later and demanded to interview Max's Mom. Her reaction when Oliver said that Cara didn't want to speak to her was so priceless that Beverly had to fight the impulse to take a picture with her phone. Jo barged past and pulled the thin curtain back.

"I know it's been a long night, but we need to get your statement for the investigation" said Jo, not hiding her irritation.

"It's my understanding that Detectives Peck and Swarek were the primaries and were working with Agent Katz here. I'd prefer to give my statement one of them" replied Cara as she stroked Max's hair, his arms locked around her waist.

"Dr. Stewart, what are you doing here?" asked Jo in an accusatory tone.

"Max wouldn't let go of my hand until he saw his Mom" answered Holly with a shrug. "And then there's the fact that _Gail is missing_."

"Oh yeah, I heard a rumor that you two were a thing-."

"I fail to see how that's relevant Detective" said Frank from behind Rossati, causing her to do a quick spin to find Frank, Sam, Steve, and Traci all standing behind her. Steve came over and knelt between Cara's bed and Holly's chair.

"We told Frank, our boss" he added for Cara's benefit as he gestured towards Frank, "of our suspicions and so Noelle, his wife and another officer knows now too" whispered Steve. Sam was whispering what Holly guessed to be the same update to Beverly.

"Thank you. Max filled me in on who we can and can't trust. Aside from the fact that he's crushed you in every chess game you've played, he likes you. I'm sorry your sister was taken. The coffee had spilled all over her front and she was soaked. I gave her my jacket and put on a spare one from my bag" she pointed to the dark blue jacket next to her duffle folded at the end of the bed. "I can only guess that whoever took her had seen me at the airport wearing the jacket and after the wreck, whoever took her figured the blonde in my coat was me."

"Sorry Holly" mumbled Max from his spot where he was laying next to his mom with his arms around her waist.

"Gail's stronger than most people give her, herself included" said Holly with a sad smile.

* * *

Gail came to in what she guessed used to be a large dog kennel that had been converted to hold kids. She gently eased herself into a sitting position and realized she was sitting on a cot. Examining the edge, she found a torn bit of cloth in the metal frame. Taking a closer look at it, she found it matched the sweatshirt that Jimmy Boland had been found in. Her head began to pound as she realized what had woken her up. There was shouting coming from either the next room or the one beyond that but it was echoing all over and causing her head to burst in pain.

_"I gave you one simple job! Grab the mom! No, you all had to come back with a cop!"_

_"Hey we grabbed the blonde in the same coat from the airport! If you were so worried, why didn't you get your cop pals to do it!"_

_"Cause so far, they can't handle the kid or even getting rid of a bit of evidence right! Jesus! This whole thing has gone sideways ever since the cops found that kid!"_

_"So let's just kill her and get outta here!"_

_"Oh yeah! Real smart! Kill a cop? You been hitting some of those pet meds? If we get caught at least we can make a deal against the scientist freaks or other cops. Kill a cop and we're done for life. Look, let's just...let's just give her a dose of the meds we were giving the kids and then dump her somewhere she'll be found. That way she won't remember anything but she'll be alive."_

Gail's head wasn't getting any better but once the echoing stopped she was able to process what she'd heard. The dried blood on her face from her nose was starting to itch like crazy but she focused on ripping apart the cuff of Cara's jacket sleeve and stuffing the bit of sweatshirt inside. Still feeling more than a little woozy, she knew she wouldn't last long in a fight, but figured she'd try to get some DNA to help Holly figure out who these bastards were. She needn't have bothered because before she could even get into a better position, she was hit with the prongs from a taser.

* * *

Beverly was taking Holly home to get some sleep and would meet her in the waiting area after she had a quick word with Frank. Holly was coming out of the restrooms when an hand clamped around her forearm hard and started to spin her around.

"I don't know what game you're playing at but-." whispered Rossati tersely. Later Holly would blame it on the slippery floor but in all honesty it was because she was so tired that her body went automatically into self defense mode. If a part of her had bothered to recognized the voice as Rossati's it probably added to the force of the blow. Holly went with the motion of the spin and brought her other fist to connect with the side of Rossati's nose which made a solid crunch sound. Rossati jerked back, holding her nose that had blood flowing freely from it. Holly turned to see that Frank, Steve, Sam, and Traci had all seen the event and were in different stages of shock or suppressed laughter.

"Um, wet floor" muttered Holly before making her way over to the doors where Beverly was grinning broadly. Holly shoved her through in an effort to get out before she imploded from embarrassment.

* * *

Morning came all too quickly. Holly didn't even remember crawling into bed much less curling up with one of Gail's sleep shirts. She hopped in the shower and pulled on a clean shirt and jeans. She felt more refreshed than she had in days and that made her feel guilty since her lover was still missing. She made her way out to the kitchen where she found Beverly sprawled out on the couch. She quirked a small grin at how much it was like old times. When they were in college she'd sometimes come home to her small apartment to find Beverly asleep on her couch, only to realize that she hadn't gotten around to giving her friend a set of keys yet. A frantic pounding at the front door had Holly spinning around and Beverly jolting awake. Despite having been slightly drooling in deep slumber seconds ago, Beverly was awake and alert now and had her gun drawn as she approached the door. Her gun was aimed at the door as she checked the peephole. She then relaxed and she opened the door to reveal Chris, who looked like he'd run up three flights of stairs rather than wait for the elevator.

"Gail was dropped off in front of the hospital! She's a bit banged up but that's mostly from the crash but we got her and she's okay! I'll take you guys there now" said Chris in a rush. Holly had never been more grateful for Beverly's presence because at the moment she felt like her head was spinning.

They were back at the hospital before the staff had even had time to switch from last night's shift. Holly was so focused on getting to Gail that she didn't notice Luke escorting Detective Rossati the other way, who was sporting a black and blue left eye and swollen nose.

Gail had given the jacket to Traci and told her about the shirt scrap in the cuff. The sudden pair of arms around her shoulders would have startled her had she not recognized the scent of Holly's shampoo as well something that was uniquely just Holly. She let out her first sigh of actual relaxation since she'd been unceremoniously dumped from a car in front of the hospital an hour ago. She'd already gotten calls from her parents who were thankfully out of town, and visited by Steve who wouldn't have left if she hadn't made Sam and Traci drag him out. She was being kept in the bed right next to Cara's and had surprised and shocked to find out how relieved Max was that she was alright. She'd talked to Cara some as well and liked her too. She could see where Max got his mixture of wit and brains.

As much as she loved the feeling of Holly in her arms again, she felt so tired. She had already told the doctors about where the hired help had stuck her with a syringe, something she only knew happened because of the pain in her arm. If she listened, she could hear Beverly telling Holly about it and Holly's fingers on her arm looking at the puncture mark. Or marks, because once she'd told the doctors, they proceeded to take more blood than Gail knew she had in a bunch of tiny vials from a gadget they had attached to her arm. Holly then got up and talked with whoever just came in and Gail felt herself nod off.


	11. Chapter 11

Traci was worried about her new friend but there was nothing she could do. Ever since Gail had woken up again, things had been getting worse and Holly was running herself into the ground trying to figure out how to help her.

Gail had spiked a fever a 104 and started seizing. Max had become a nervous wreck, blaming himself for Gail's condition. Cara had tried to calm him but had had little success aside from soothing him from his nightmares once he'd worn himself out into sleep.

When Gail was awake, she would scratch at any bit of skin she could reach saying that it all itched like ants walking on her. Her hearing was suddenly hyper sensitive and her stomach was a game of chance as to whether or not it would keep meals down. The only thing that was keeping Holly going was the coffee and sodas Jono would leave for her and the various meals left for her by the officers of 15th Division.

Having Beverly keeping watch over Gail and Max meant that at the very least, they were being kept safe. Nick had come in with Sam and reported that Beverly nearly laid Rossati flat when she tried to barge her way through again. Collins hadn't made any effort to hide his distain so Sam and Holly saw no reason their grins.

The 27th Division was under official investigation after one of it's detectives was caught by Beverly and Steve trying to smuggle a syringe into Cara and Gail's shared room. Rossati was put under arrest as a material witness which had Luke as well as Nick and Dov pissed off, but they weren't risking anyone else knowing their suspicions.

Holly caught up on sleep when she could on the couch on her office. It wasn't until two later that she spotted Jono using a sleeping bag and a pillow on one of the spare tables in the morgue. She knew there was a reason he was her favorite assistant.

The best she could come up with so far was that whoever had taken Gail had injected her with the same substance they were using on the kids. However, the brains of the children were still developing and were able to adapt and accommodate the changes, whereas Gail's brain was fully developed and was having trouble coping with the stimulus the drugs were asking of her and putting all her senses in overdrive as a result. Holly wasn't sure how long Gail's body could cope with this before it was unable to put up anymore resistance or shut down completely.


	12. Chapter 12

She wouldn't stop screaming.

"Jesus, someone shut her _Up_!" muttered Max from his seat between the two beds. They were watching the recent Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake on mute with subtitles and one of the characters was obviously using her full lung power.

"If some crazed lunatic is after us with a saw- I don't care if it's a hack saw- and you're screaming like that, I'm kicking you out into the open and he can have you. Unless you find some duct tape for your mouth" remarked Gail softly as she gestured to the screen.

"He's using a gas powered saw. So just carry some sugar in a baggy and wait for an opening where he puts it down, right? It'd do the same thing it would to a car?" proposed Max as he turned towards his Mom for confirmation.

"Maybe" replied Cara with a shrug and nod, to the surprised faces of Gail and Noelle.

"Cara, what exactly do you _do_?" asked Noelle with a raised eyebrow. Cara gave a suffering sigh as Max put the movie on pause and turned from his spot on Gail's bed to look at his Mom proudly.

"I used to teach self defense to adults, until my classes began filling up with women looking to take the class for status rather than skill or fitness. You know, women who aren't putting in the effort into the moves and either don't need to or can't afford to loose any more weight. So then I switched to teaching it to kids. I had to put up with nagging parents but I didn't mind as much as missing kids from a few states away started making the news every night. As they got closer, I then quit and became a private detective. As for my skills, well I've learned a few things growing up. Went to college and was a History major but took a bunch of other courses too like forestry. And then there are the things you learn being a single mom. My dad taught me all about cars and mechanics growing up so that came in useful too. When he died I sold his two little auto shops to some big name chain but it made sure Max and I will always be provided for. Now that I've found Max, I don't know. Maybe just stay at home and relax a bit. You know, be there when he's done with school if he doesn't have friends to hang out with or something else planned after" explained Cara as she lovingly brushed Max's hair behind his ear. She'd been keeping up with all her files with her Google Chromecast, and despite the hospital's large tv, there was nothing on so they used the device to watch Netflix.

Gail's senses were giving her a reprieve for now but Cara and Max kindly opted for subtitles rather than test Gail's limits.

Bits and pieces were coming back to her from her abduction. The wire kennel cages, stacked coolers with the medical insignia, the smell of dried blood, vomit, and antiseptic. And the sound of yelling. She couldn't remember what the voices were saying but she could identify three different voices and would know them again if she heard them. She brought out of her thoughts as Max nudged her knee and motioned back towards the screen with his ipod. Gail nodded and the movie resumed.

* * *

Nick was furious. Since when did brothers turn on brothers? Arresting other detectives gave him an acidic feeling in his stomach. At the moment he was standing in the parade room with the others as Frank was explaining the situation.

"C'mon! These are fellow officers! We've worked with Rossati before! She used to be a part of this division! All this because of Gail's science experiment and her stooge?" exclaimed Nick. Anything else he was going to say was cut off by Steve punching in the face. He'd probably meant to hit him in the jaw, but the desks and chairs got in the way and the blow landed skimming his jaw but hitting his nose and cheekbone much harder and it sent him tumbling over the corner of the desk he'd been leaning on.

"Get this through your skull. Gail and Holly are a couple. Holly makes Gail happier than any of us have ever seen her. You screw that up and you'll regret it" growled Steve.

Sam and Oliver went to pull Steve back while Chloe and Andy helped Nick up and Dov got paper towels and ice for Nick's face. Nick waved them all away and settled into a chair. Frank rubbed his brow, made eye contact with both McNally and Diaz who nodded, and then waited for everyone to settle before resuming.

"The first suspicions were brought to me by Officers McNally and Diaz after the shooting, having both realized that events didn't add up. The evidence supports this."

Nick spun to face Andy.

"And you couldn't talk to me about this? I was in the Army, Andy!"

"No! I went to Gail and Steve since given who their parents are, between them, they'd know all the protocols and I could find out if something was off or I was just misinterpreting things, off the record and without getting anyone in trouble. And it's not like you're exactly acting rationally now! Just listen to what Frank has to say!"

"Dude, it's more than just smoke or guesses if someone was willing to try and abduct Gail" added Chris, who would have taken a shot at Nick if Steve hadn't. He liked Holly, and he knew that both he and Nick had never made Gail as happy as Holly did, and that was before she and Gail were even in a relationship. Nick ignored him and spun towards Dov and Chloe. Dov shrugged.

"Frank believes it, and I trust his judgement" said Dov and Chloe nodded along side him. Nick rubbed the back of his head with his free hand and gave up. He looked towards Frank, ready to listen. Sam and Steve could tell the change in his demeanor but Luke was still brooding as he leaned against the back wall.

* * *

Traci sitting in the interview room with Jo cuffed to the table.

"Traci, we've worked together. Done stake outs. I helped you become a detective! You don't really believe any of this do you?"

"What I know is that while the bullet that killed James Boland didn't come from your gun, three shots that start a foot away and end about an inch from where he sat, did" stated Traci coldly.

"Since when do you care so much about some orphaned kid?" asked Jo, dropping her innocent act. The door opened and Luke stepped through and Jo sat up straight again.

"Since we met his parents Jo, who'd been looking for him ever since he'd been missing" answered Luke.

"Luke-."

"No. You know, I was the last hold out. Even Collins believed it all before me. I still thought there was no way you could be a part of all this. But you've always played fast and loose with witness's lives in the past, I guess this wasn't all a that big of a step. Reyman already told us it was you that told them to get the evidence in the lab. Thankfully, Dunkleman is really good at his job and believes in backing up his work. How could you do this Jo? It wasn't about the money, so what was it?"

"You really have no idea, do you? There have always been sacrifices in the name of progress, Luke."


	13. Chapter 13

Max was having a sleep study done and Cara had gone along with him, leaving the room to just Gail for the night. Well, Gail and her guard standing outside her door. Thankfully, Holly had dropped in and her guard for the night was Sam.

Holly was nuzzled into her side and for once her body was acting normal instead of reacting as if a simple touch gave her the feeling of needles against her skin. Nick had updated her on everything that happened so far when he stopped in earlier to apologize.

Apparently, Rossati had had a double of whatever kool aid these scientist were giving out because she had gone on some epic rant about how these experiments were all going to expand the human mind.

Gail didn't know about all that, just that her mind kept feeling like it was trying to find a way to crawl out of her skull. She knew that recent numbers showed that more people believed in Creationism than Evolution, but this was sadistic experimentation. (What! She read! Mostly since she started dating Holly, but still!). She had posed a theory to Holly, Beverly, Sam, and Frank earlier. They now had a better idea of how many children they were looking for now that Cara had offered up what she had and it came to a total of eight names. There might be other children, but these were names they could pull school records and medical files on. Gail's theory was that while all of these children came across as average, maybe it was the potential that the scientists were intrigued with. Jimmy Boland was capable of taking any group of rowdy after school kids and turning them into a winning soccer team. Max had excellent planning and strategic skills but you wouldn't know it from any of his scattered school work. When it came to chess he was very calculating and jigsaw puzzles seemed to come easy because he'd already figured out the next piece he'd need before his hand reached for it.

All this meant that whoever had taken them had to have been surveilling them for sometime. Beverly had looked into Jimmy and Max's school and found that a substitute science teacher had been there for a number of months and they were now working to track him down. Max hadn't been playing chess online or at school, so it was still unclear as to how they had known about him. Holly shifted closer slightly, causing Gail to wince. Her mind was at it again, a blinding pain blurring her sight for a moment before searing every nerve that Holly was cuddled against. Gail grit her teeth as she yelled NO in her mind, trying to remind herself that this was one of the few things that made her happy! That Holly made her happy! A ringing in her ears made her want to scream but she just took a deep breath instead. Holly had explained that since the children's brains were still developing, the drugs either triggered certain reactions or monitored them but with Gail's brain already having been developed the drugs weren't reacting as they had initially been devised to. Gail would have rolled her eyes at that, but it hurt too much. Had it been anyone else, she would have tried to hide her bloody noses that signified that the pressure on her brain wasn't lessening, but trying to hide a medical symptom from Holly was like trying to hide a muddy puppy. Holly sleepily leaned up and blinked at Gail before grabbing a tissue and gently wiping at Gail's nose. To Gail's relief but also displeasure, Holly settled in the two chairs that had been pulled up next to the bed and settled back to go to sleep again.

Gail sighed and grabbed for the stuffed T-rex Holly had gotten her. She hugged him to her chest, careful to keep him out of the way of any future nose bleeds, and breathed deeply through her nose to calm down.

Or tried to. Her nose was full of so much dried blood it was almost impossible to breathe through, but she knew blowing it out so soon after one would only start a bigger gush of blood. Sheesh, weren't noses supposed to be dinky little things? What's with all the blood? If you saw all the bloodied tissues in the trash can, you'd think she was part of one of the b rated horror movies she and Max liked watching so much. She thanked every deity she could think of as she felt her eyelids start to feel heavy. The needle feelings were ebbing and she tugged her T-rex closer as she finally dozed off. In the chair next to her, Holly finally let her self drift off as well, taking the image of fierce Gail Peck cuddling a T-rex with her to dreamland.


	14. Chapter 14

Holly was gently shaken awake by Beverly the next morning from the chair next to Gail's bed. Beverly waited until after Holly had stretched to hand her a cup of coffee. Holly took a sip, grateful for the warmth it provided and hoped it would take her mind off the stitch in her side. She walked over to Gail's side and brushed her hair back as she whispered to Gail that she was leaving to go home for a shower and change before work. Gail mumbled something in her sleep and clutched her stuffed T-rex closer to her chest.

Beverly had unceremoniously collapsed into the vacated chair and sipped from her own cup. Holly smirked as Beverly gave her a mock salute as she headed out. Beverly had looked out for her all during high school and college, using her talent of somehow always getting them off with a warning. Had they ever gotten arrested for one of their many youthful adventures, they would have wound up in entirely different careers. However, Holly had assisted Beverly's unit in the FBI on one their cases after she'd been transferred to Toronto. That case was one that would haunt her forever. The victim's faces, the wounds, the number of both. She slept better at night knowing that there was a unit devoted to catching serial killers, especially after Gail's ordeal with Perrick, the fact that Beverly was also one of the smartest people she knew was also a bonus. Which was why, despite Beverly and Gail becoming instant best friends in a way that could only mean trouble, Holly had no problem trusting Beverly with Gail's life.

* * *

Gail woke up a while later to find Beverly cursing at her phone.

"Problem?" she had tried to keep the edge of worry out of her voice but it wavered anyway.

"Nah. Max just got me addicted to this game called Entanglement and I keep screwing up. He and Cara stopped by before going to breakfast and he put it on your phone for you" answered Beverly as she tilted her body at the same time she tilted her phone. Gail normally would have been mad at the kid for messing with her phone but she'd been going stir crazy. She got up to shower and brush her teeth in the small bathroom and when she came out Cara and Max had returned. Cara was going stir crazy as well, but the doctors were concerned with an injury to her shoulder and were keeping her a while longer. If it hadn't been for the still prominent black and blue bruising around the area, Gail would have thought it was just a weak story to keep the three of them together and easier to watch.

Speaking of which, if Gail wasn't a police officer, she might not even have noticed. Actually, it was done so subtly, she and Cara almost missed it. When other officers were left on guard duty, they typically sat outside the room. Beverly sat inside the room with them with a chair propped against the door and her chair being closest to it. Beverly kept them safe without being a constant reminder that they were in danger, which was nice since Gail's friends apparently thought dropping by to say "We've got nothing" or "We've found more bodies" was somehow helpful instead of frustrating.

Max had asked both Gail and Beverly about their jobs but instead of the typical "What's your worst case" question, he had asked how they washed it all off. Beverly had answered jigsaw puzzles without a moment's hesitation, stating that all the pieces were there and when it was done, it was done. The puzzle could be boxed up again with the knowledge that the next time it was opened, it would still form the same picture. Gail had told him of her love of bad sci-fi horror movies: Lake Placid and all the sequels and Sharknado. After a really bad case, she just needed something completely ridiculous and that had no chance of happening. Horror movies used to do it for her but there were some days that the plots didn't seem far fetched enough and that's what really scared her.

Beverly enjoyed watch duty, despite how everyone seemed to find it so boring. She worked in the lab with Holly when it wasn't her shift but she enjoyed the down time. It gave her mind time to go over the evidence they had collected in her head. Meeting Max helped her put a face to the case. There were a total of four bodies now all showing various degrees of stress. They had found the bodies of two boys and two girls and were currently running them against missing persons in both Canada and the US.

One of the girls had scratched at her neck so often that it had bleed and turned into a wound that made whoever was monitoring them resort to using the other side of her neck to inject things. The other little girl had been identified as Lizze and her knees and shoulders still had bruises on them from being confined in a small space for so long. It was times like these that she was grateful for databases, but really wished for a way to speed up time so that she could work on the results.

* * *

Holly was having thoughts very similar to Beverly's in the lab's break room. Jono was waiting for the last of the results before joining her. She sighed as she took a sip from her third cup of coffee this morning. She'd been out since high school and had been in her fair share of relationships but this was certainly a first. Between their jobs, the odd hours, and this case, she hadn't had any real alone time with Gail aside from spending nights at the hospital. In fact, the last time they'd been together and had fun together was when they had pizza and beers with Beverly. Usually she had an idea of what to expect in a relationship or even a person, but with Gail she was never sure.

Holly supposed that's what made Gail so worth it, there was no going through the motions or anything that was expected. Date nights were never planned due to their work schedules, they just sort of happened. She knew Gail wasn't ashamed of what they had, but more along the lines of ashamed of what her Mother's reaction would be. Normally, Holly would think Gail was just trying to get out it, but when her Mother hadn't even dropped by to visit her at the hospital Holly realized how real Gail's fear was. Superintendent or not, she would think a mother would make time to visit her child when it was possible that there was a chance she could develop permanent neurological damage.

Holly had met Gail's father, who had taken leave from his conference and driven back to check on his daughter in person. Gail had been asleep and Holly had been playing a game with Max when Steve and his father had walked in, Steve making the quiet introduction of Holly as Gail's girlfriend. Inspector Bill Peck hadn't batted an eye and simply asked if Gail was going to be all right. She had felt better that the focus was in her chosen field, but disappointed that she couldn't give the man better news. Gail had woken up half way through the explanation and Gail had only managed to get out the word "Dad" before he had his arms around her in a hug. He had stayed a while but had to get back to the conference. He had hugged Holly before he left and whispered a plea for her to continue to keep taking such good care of his daughter. She had promised she would, and it had surprised her how quickly she had said the words. She meant them of course, but she had been surprised at how much Gail had come to mean to her despite how little they knew about each other. She suspected she knew more than most people about Gail, the two of them having talked for hours spread out on the sofa many times, but it was far a cry from trusting someone with your life. Although, now that she thought about it, she'd trust Gail with hers without question.

Jono came into the room, tearing her from her thoughts.

"It looks like some of the drugs of were antipsychotics. Those would have made them tired but it would have also skew their senses. Their perception of time, how quick their reaction time would be, and how long it would take them to figure something out. It would make the results look impressive when they were compared to the results without any drugs" said Jono as he placed a stack of reports in front of Holly. "Something else is probably going to happen soon too" he added, causing Holly to look up from reading the reports.

"What do you mean?"

"All the high muckity mucks are on conferences. Inspector and on up, and so were you and every other pathologist who could potentially spot what was up. And it's not like the detectives take anything coming from officers seriously, or like working with other Division detectives either. Division 27 deal with the kids with almost no chance of anyone finding out. Max just screwed it up by managing to get away. Now with all the focus on 27th Division, they'll probably try to move all the kids at once." Holly jumped out of her seat and wrapped Jono in a hug and kissed his forehead before grabbing her phone and calling Steve and telling him to grab Oliver, Traci, Sam, and Frank and meet her in Gail's hospital room.


	15. Chapter 15

Jono was stunned for a moment after Holly kissed his forehead, wondering what had just happened.

"So... _I did something good, right?_ " he called to Holly's rapidly retreating figure. He gave himself a thumbs up as he plopped himself down in a chair and opened his Diet Mountain Dew, hoping the caffeine would bring some clarity, only to have Holly appear back in front of him and grabbing his arm.

"It'll make more sense if you explain it. By the time I got to my car, I'd forgotten most of what you said" explained Holly as she dragged him along this time. He managed to get the lid on his soda and not spill any which was a miracle considering the fact that he was walking backwards and getting to Holly's car involved going down a set of stairs.

Setting his drink in the cup holder, he pulled on his seat belt and begged his stomach to hold on to the lemon poppy seed muffin he'd had for breakfast as Holly sped around a curve and towards the hospital.

"To answer your question, yes, you did a very good thing and always feel free to share your thoughts. I'm not just saying that because you just gave the detectives a huge lead. That's the way this process works."

"I thought we were giving a voice to the victims by analyzing the bodies and evidence- or whatever it was that was printed in our textbooks" asked Jono, only half joking. Holly smirked. She liked this kid.

"We are. But if we don't share our theories, all the science isn't going to help us if we over look something. I'm not just your supervisor-."

"You're the big boss lady."

"That too. But, I'm also someone for you to bounce your ideas off of." The silence she was met with had her taking a quick glance at him during a red light. "Jono?" He was nervously scratching his head through his mop of curly brown black hair.

"I hear you. It's just that...sometimes my thoughts are really _weird_."

"So are our jobs to most people. But don't worry about it. Also, for the break you just gave us, I'd give you a raise if we had the budget for it but we don't so I'm buying you lunch for a week. Taco Bell or wherever you'd like."

Given the speed she was driving, he _really_ wished she hadn't mentioned food.

* * *

Max was just as happy to see Jono as the lab tech was to see him, but even after repeating his theory, Jono didn't see how it was a big break exactly. Frank sat down heavily in the chair under the tv bolted to the wall while Sam rubbed at his chin.

"It's big because none of us saw it even though it was glaring us right in the face, kid" groaned Sam.

"So, what kind of tests are we looking at? What was done to the other kids? How big of a space are we looking for?" asked Cara as she scooted back to sit against the headboard and give the others room to sit. She moved too far and bashed her left shoulder into the headboard, wincing as she leaned over and tried to keep her breathing even instead of screaming. Beverly grabbed a pillow and tossed it to Max, who placed it behind his Mom before taking a seat in front of her. Jono sat down next to him and pulled his laptop out of his backpack that he'd never gotten around to taking off while Beverly made herself comfortable at the edge of the bed over his shoulder.

"Well, a large facility where someone could transport children without being suspicious" started Traci.

"Who says they're being that open though? After Max's escape they're probably trying to minimize risk, right? The best way to do that-" started Gail.

"-would be to move them as a group" finished Steve as he nodded at his sister, following her train of thought.

" _Costco style_ " muttered Jono as he pulled up google maps, earning a smirk from Holly and a snort of laughter from Max and various other odd looks.

"Okay...even if we limit that to only empty or derelict buildings, there are too many to check. Any way to narrow it down further?" asked Beverly as she scanned the room.

"Loading docks. If a large truck backed up into a building, you wouldn't be able to tell what was loaded or unloaded and it can't be too hard to install some benches or something into the back of one of those things" commented Cara.

"Given this some thought, have you?" teased Frank, trying to distract himself from how morbid all of this was.

"I take it you've never chaperoned a school field trip" stated Cara with a quirked eyebrow. Frank was puzzled and turned towards Traci.

"Thirty hyper kids on a bus with two adults? After twenty minutes, you start imagining different modes of transportation. Ones that are _quieter_ " stated Traci in such a matter of fact way that Frank was suddenly not so eager for his daughter to grow up fast.

Jono added that to the search criteria and while the number of buildings went down, it still left the possible number in the hundreds.

"Cold storage!" added Holly as she pushed up her glasses. "The viruses they're using are going to probably be temperature sensitive so they'll want somewhere they can control that."

"Wait. Couldn't they just use a cooler full of ice for that? Why a whole facility?" asked Steve.

Jono shared a look with Holly, who nodded, before answering. "The bodies. If the subjects die, they'll want to examine the bodies later to find out why. Until they can, it's best that they be kept in cold storage" explained Jono as he narrowed the field down even further. "Okay we have three possibles. They're all meat packing plants downtown." Jono swiveled the screen so that the others could see the points mapped out.

"Okay, let's get back to the station and split this up. We hit all three of these tonight and get those kids back home to their parents" announced Frank, and the other followed him out.

That left Gail, Cara, and Max, with Holly and Jono in the hospital room with a patrolman waiting on the other side of the door and a shared hope that all of this would be over soon.


	16. Chapter 16

15th Division had divided themselves into three groups to hit all three targets with a support team backing them up. Frank and Noelle were going to be monitoring the lines of communication to make sure everything ran smoothly, and hopefully this would all be over soon.

Sam's group hit their site first. It was a building that was part of a fish market that was in the process of being bought out. Sam was followed closely by Traci and Dov, the support team fanning out to cover the perimeter. Sam already knew that his dry cleaner was going to have a hell of a time getting the fish smell out of his uniform. So far, things were looking like this was a bust. The loading doors all looked to be firmly chained and locked down and leaves, dirt, and other garbage made it clear that no one had been here in a while.

Dov pointed to the far loading door that didn't have a chain on it. Once Traci and Dov had him covered on either side, Sam threw the door open only to find himself looking at one of their support guys at the other end. Sam sighed and turned his head to speak into his radio.

"There's nothing here Frank. Doesn't look like there has been in a while. The fish smell is so strong, not even squatters are using this prime bit of shelter here."

"Okay. Stay close though, we might need you as back up at one of the other sites" crackled Frank's voice.

"Gotcha."

* * *

Jono was hitting the vending machines. These machines were thankfully similar to the ones at the lab and had decent things in them ranging from muffins and protein bars to sandwiches and tuna and crackers. At the moment he was fishing in his pocket for the ever elusive last quarter that he knew he had, and was the only thing keeping him from a muffin to go with his apple juice. Suddenly his head was shoved against the machine and he could feel the square keys imprinting onto his face. In the reflection of the glass he could see a figure dressed in black with some kind of mask on. The rest of his mind seemed to shut down once he spotted the gun in the hand that wasn't clutching the back of his head. He didn't have time to even register what had happened only now that his head was pounding and he suspected, bleeding, judging by the fractures that had appeared in the glass.

" _Max Mason. Which room?_ " growled the voice. Blinking against the spots of color that were floating in front of him and the near blinding pain, Jono did his best to not wet himself and answer.

"I don't know. I've been floating between the cafeteria and the lobby all morning. Only my boss has been able to see him and that was only for a few minutes until they shoved her out. Since then she's been a few floors down waiting for test results" answered Jono as best he could with his face still shoved against the machine. The man grunted before shoving him again and this time everything went black.

* * *

Steve, Andy, and Nick had no luck at their site either and were going to meet Sam and his team at Oliver's site.

They had all parked a block away once they other two site came up empty, with the support teams covering the perimeter again. The minute the building came into site, they knew they were on to something. There were clear signs of activity going on inside and although the trucks were clearly well traveled, they weren't the type of trucks that required armed escorts.

"Those must be some prime cuts of meat in there Sammy" whispered Oliver.

"Think cops get a discount?" Sam whispered back.

"I dunno. Let's go ask" whispered Oliver.

 

Steve was trying to size up the armed guards.

"It looks like these guys are probably part of a private company. Odds are they won't hesitate to shoot cops so when you go in, make sure it's not alone" whispered Steve over the radio. After a "go" signal from the support team, they went in.

* * *

Holly left the room to search for her wayward lab tech. The vending machines were right down the hall, so where... A feeling of dread settled in the pit of Holly's stomach at the sight of the fractured glass and blood on the vending machine. She didn't see any sign of Jono and she was hoping that was a good thing for the moment. Now that she thought of it, _where was the officer on guard duty?_ There hadn't been anyone outside the door. Holly quickly spun on her heel and rushed back to the room. Once she was inside she shoved the chair back against the door and collapsed into it, knowing that the flimsy wooden chair wouldn't keep anyone out who really wanted in.

"Holly? What's wrong?" asked Gail, noticing that despite her attempt not cause alarm, Holly was drenched in a layer of sweat.

"Um...nothing. It's just that there's blood on the vending machines and the guard is gone" blurted out Holly quickly.

Max immediately sat up and slipped his ipod in his pocket while Cara leaned over to pull on her shoes. Gail was already on her phone to Frank as she laced up her sneakers. Holly was dimly aware of Gail reporting their situation but her focus was brought back full force when Gail lost the call.

"Noelle? Hello? _Noelle_! Damn it!" Gail shoved her phone back in her pocket in frustration.

"Signal jammers" muttered Cara.

"What?" asked Gail as she got up and bent the bar to the door's automatic opening system the other way to jam it closed.

"Whoever is here is probably using a signal jammer. You can get them online. It would keep us from calling for help, because ten bucks says the hospital phone is dead too, but would them to keep using their radios" explained Cara.

" _Fantastic_ " groaned Gail. Her body was more or less back to normal, but the hospital room didn't give them a lot to protect themselves with. Cara had pulled a think USB cable from her bag and Gail hoped she had a plan for it because she didn't. She was grateful that she'd been keeping a set of casual clothes handy though, the last thing she needed was to be fending off an attack in a hospital gown.

"Well, we know Jono didn't say anything or they would have been here sooner." The words had just left her mouth when the door was rammed so hard the chair skidded a few feet forward. Gail and Cara threw their full weight at the door, using the chair as a wedge as Holly grabbed Max and locked themselves in the bathroom.

Despite their best efforts, Gail and Cara weren't able to hold the door for long and soon two of attackers were inside. Cara took on one of the attackers who managed a hard blow to her injured shoulder but she pushed through the pain and took his legs out from under him and wrapped the cable around his throat. Despite his struggles, Cara had him pinned and soon the man was unconscious.

Gail was managing to handle her attacker but he was able to reach his radio on his shoulder. Pressing a button, a piercing sound filled the room, causing Gail to crumple and cover her ears and Max to do the same in the bathroom with Holly. It felt like someone was trying to make her eardrums explode and force her eyes from their sockets. Despite everything in her telling her not to, she managed to pry one eye open in time to see the attacker knock Cara back where she struck her head on the bed frame. He had turned back towards her and was reaching for something when someone yelled "Hey!" from behind him and suddenly his head was enveloped in white foam. The man's hands reached for his face but he was struck from behind and collapsed into a heap. There was Jono, dried blood down the side of his face, holding a fire extinguisher.

"If the spray didn't freeze his throat, the canister knocked him out, so we should be good for a while" explained Jono as he sat down heavily on the bed.

Gail searched the man and came up with a handful of zip ties and used them to bind him while Cara did the same to the other attacker. Gail then knocked on the bathroom door to give Holly the all clear. Holly opened the door and Gail spotted the lid to the toilet tank sitting on the counter.

"Max's idea for a weapon. It would have been effective" commented Holly as she subtly checked Gail.

Cara shut the door again ignoring the now broken door piston and splintered chair while Max trudged out of the bathroom and curled up into a ball on Gail's bed. Gail still felt like her brain was trying to crawl out of her head but was doing her best to focus.

"Now what?" asked Holly.

"Now we don't open the door until it's someone we know and trust on the other side."


	17. Chapter 17

The warehouse was bigger than the other two and once the support team gave the go ahead, they went inside as carefully and quietly as they could. Dov was making his way down a hallway when he thought he heard something behind him. Gun ready, he quickly turned around only to find no one there. He leaned back against the wall and slowly let out a deep breath while he tried to get his heart to quit trying to beat out of his chest. He looked up and wiped some of the sweat off his face before he stopped and could practically feel his sweat turn to ice as his insides froze in terror. There was no one behind him. Sam and Oliver had stressed going in pairs but for the life of him, Dov couldn't even remember who his partner had been. Faint footsteps had Dov shakily pointing his gun down the hall he'd just come and he nearly passed out in relief when Chris and Chloe turned the corner.

Chris and Chloe shared a confused look as Dov seemed to have a silent fit at them for some reason before joining him. Oliver had looked around for Dov, who was supposed to be his partner, before sending Chris and Chloe after him. Coming to a door, Dov grabbed the handle and checked with the other two before quickly opening it and letting Chris and Chloe go in first while he covered their backs.

* * *

Oliver wasn't liking this one bit. This entire case made him sick and Zoe was getting tired of him showing up every night, but she didn't understand. This case was all they'd been focusing on, and after spending so much time looking at the evidence photos and reports he couldn't sleep without hugging his girls and making sure they were safe. Thankfully, Celery understood that. He didn't give her any details, but she knew it was bad.

But at the moment, this place was too quiet. There was no question that this was the place, but so far they hadn't seen anyone, child or adult. Oliver could tell Sammy didn't like it either. Damn it, he'd spoke to soon. Or thought it, or something. Just as they turned the corner coming from the right side, with Steve and Traci coming from the left side and securing the entire loading area, a group of four men on patrol came down the hall and upon seeing them, opened fire.

Ducking behind the few barrels and large crates that were there the officers returned fire as best they could. They were at a disadvantage because their cover was more of a hazard than shelter. The wood from the crates splintered when it was hit and the barrels were more likely to get someone hurt through a ricochet. They quickly downed the attackers with the assistance of the support team from the walkways above. Having lost the element of surprise, they moved at a faster pace, not knowing how many they were up against.

* * *

Andy and Nick were going down a large corridor when Andy heard a shuffling sound and held up her hand to tell Nick to stop. The shuffling sound continued and Andy let out a mental prayer for it not to be rats. Anything but rats. The sounds got louder as the approached a heavy sliding metal door. Andy nodded to Nick, who shoved the door to the side but it made a horrible load screech while it moved. Moving inside quickly, the door rolled shut behind Andy with a heavy thunk. Nick spun around to help her, but even with their combined efforts, the door didn't budge. The sound of a sniffle had them spinning around again, guns drawn and ready. They were met with the faces of children who all looked worn and hungry and every one of them showing signs of being sick or injured in some way. A door at the back corner of the room began to open and Nick got into position while Andy helped the kids out of the way. To their relief, Chris's head poked through the opening. After getting all the kids into the next room, Chloe did a quick head count and found that there were twenty three children all together. Normally, they would escort them all out safely but they didn't know if the area was clear yet and some of the children were too sick to run and at least two of them were too sick to walk.

The sound of gunfire coming closer had Andy and Chris jamming the door to the other room shut while Dov and the others tried to deal with the kids. This was proving to be more than difficult since the children seemed absolutely terrified of them and despite Dov and Nick's soothing tones, wouldn't let them touch them and flinched when they tried.

"The guys from 27th were cops too, they have no reason to think they can trust us" whispered Chloe. The sniffles weren't from tears, she'd noted as her heart broke, they were attempts to keep the blood from dripping down their faces. Most of the children had dried blood around their faces along with a redness that suggested that they had once tried to wipe it away but had since given up trying. A handful of others had blood by their ears and despite the well worn clothing, Chloe had also noted cuts, bruises, and sores. When Nick tried to pick up a little girl who looked too tired to stand, her eyes went wide and she backed away, tightly crossing her forearms. Chloe did her best to explain and got Chris to help since he was the only other one there that didn't cause the children to quake in fear. Whatever happened next, they would need the children to not panic and stay with them. Looking at the young faces though, Chris had a feeling these kids had given up hope long ago.

* * *

Gail had locked the rest of the doors on area of the hospital. It wasn't much, just a set of heavy double doors at each end of the hallway, but the way they locked into the floor would definitely hold someone off for a bit longer. At one end, she and Jono had shoved the vending machine in front as a barricade while Holly took a look at Cara's shoulder. Luckily, it hadn't been broken in the fight, but it was certainly going to add time to her recovery. Max was doing his best not to freak out, but the way he'd started trembling again was a dead give away. They had decided to relax in the lobby area on the couches, out of the hallway and line of fire, and munch on some well deserved snacks.

That's when they heard the sound of breaking glass. Taking advantage of one of the round hallway mirrors, Gail spotted one of the guys at the set of doors with his gun and a silencer attached. The set of doors that they didn't have a barricade against. Of course. Gail was frantically trying to come up with something as well as remember where that fire extinguisher was, when two more shots rang out.

"Hey, you guys okay in there?"

Beverly. _Thank god_. Gail managed to find her voice and tell her yes as she got up to unlock the door.

"If you were anybody else, we would have killed you" said Gail, as she pulled Beverly into a hug with relief.

"Yeah, well everybody else is at the warehouse. I took out two other guys when I checked the other side. With this guy that's three. Is that everybody?" asked Beverly as she hugged Holly and Cara.

"We had three others but took care of them" added Cara. Beverly nodded and called in the shooting before taking the others back to the station. In the car Beverly explained how the shoot out had gone down and how all the officers were safe. The scientists that had been on site were staying tight lipped and the children were afraid of most of the officers and would let very few people touch them, officers or paramedics, despite the many signs of abuse they all showed.

"Then maybe we should head there instead" said Max. "Maybe talking to another kid might make them feel a bit safer. I don't know but it's better than just hanging around at the station all night." Beverly and Gail shared a look and then Gail turned to look at Cara, who nodded, and the car changed direction. Holly and Jono would have been called in anyway, so it was one less stop. Or at least that's the excuse they were going to use if anybody asked.


	18. Chapter 18

Once more, despite Gail's understanding, the children seemed to trust her. They also trusted Max and between the two of them, along with a handful of the others the children seemed to trust, they were working through them. Max was working with Nick, who was grudgingly starting to warm up to the kid while Cara helped Andy.

It was a difficult process. They had started with trying to identify each child, but some of them could no longer recall their names. Holly could only guess that it was due to trauma they had sustained during tests or due to the drugs themselves, but had no way of knowing without running tests and brain scans. Holly was focused on her work and trying to be as nonthreatening as she could be, despite the fact that she was drawing blood, but every time she went back to the forensics van for supplies, she kept a close eye on Max and Gail. They both looked exhausted and seemed to be experiencing a bit of sound oversensitivity from whatever the bad guy had blared in the hospital. Max seemed to be having fewer after effects, but Gail had her worried. She had seen Gail rub the space between her eyes multiple times and noticed a tremor in her hands. They had a job to do and these children had all suffered, but everyone else seemed to have forgotten that Gail had suffered as well.

Well, not everyone.

Oliver had come and checked with Holly to see if Gail was okay to work and had periodically been catching her eye to make sure things were okay.

Part of the reason the kids trusted Gail was because they could tell she'd been injected with the drugs too. A girl named Amelia had given her the tip to avoid looking up and to not tilt her head back, and since then her headache had only been mind numbing.

* * *

15 had worked through the night with the medical staff and processed everyone and taken them to a nearby shelter. They'd gotten everyone's fingerprints digitally and Beverly was putting them through all the missing persons databases and making a list of parents to notify. The difficult part was waiting on the blood work and setting up all the brain scans. Granted, the parents would be relieved that child had been found, there was still the matter of explaining what had happened to them. However, most of that had happened after Holly had taken Gail home and Cara had left with Max for a hotel with Chloe.

* * *

Gail wouldn't admit to feeling like death warmed over, but she wasn't above sulking. Sitting on Holly's couch, she was wrapped in every blanket she could find, even a few fleece ones. There was a small opening where Traci could make out a few wisps of blonde hair and Gail's eyes, but everything else was covered.

"Comfy?" asked Traci, not even trying to hide her grin.

"No. I'm freezing and I itch everywhere, but Holly wrapped my hands in gauze paws and I can't scratch anything. Oh, and my head is trying to kill me. And that's just when Chris and Dov aren't calling to check on me."

"You're like their sister Gail, they care about you."

"Well, Chris called every half hour while I was trying to nap and he wouldn't stop talking for at least ten minutes each time. So, at first I just hung up on him. Then I answered and just left the line open. That's when he started calling Holly's land line and then Holly's cell when I didn't pick up to make sure I was still breathing. So, I gave up on napping. Dov calls every hour and says 'Oh good, you're still not dead' and then hangs up. Besides, I already have a dopey brother of my own, who probably bugged you into coming here."

They'd become close friends, and Traci was worried about Gail, but Steve was too and if he left one more message asking her to check on his sister, Traci was going to beat him with her phone. It was sweet how much he really cared about Gail, but her mailbox being full, he had resorted to texting now.

"Yeah...how do I get him to stop?" asked Traci, hoping that there was an off switch.

"You can't" answered Gail with a sigh, "because it means that he's probably getting pestered by Dad for constant updates. Which means Dad either can't come and is doing his best phone parenting, or he's driving back. And please oh _please_ let it be the first one."

"Hey, the first one might mean I chuck my phone at your brother's head!"

"Yeah, but the second one means Dad is here."

"So?"

"So, if it was Leo, and another Division had him? Can you honestly say you wouldn't pull rank on their rookies to make sure everything was being done for your kid? My Dad will slow down the investigation with his worrying."

Traci sat back in her chair and let out a long sigh. She had to admit Gail was right. Heaven help anyone, rookie to chief inspector, if Leo had been injected with some mystery concoction.

"So when is Holly taking you back to the hospital?" asked Traci as a bloodied tissue was tossed from the blankets to the waiting trash can.

"Soon. They decided to isolate the floor below the Imaging Lab for all of the kids to make it easier on them since some have trouble walking. Well, I guess I mean us, huh?"

"Hey, Holly and Beverly will figure this out. They've got a bunch of lab staff helping them, two of Beverly's colleagues flew up with their supervisor to help identify the kids, and they have Jono organizing the data so that everything is clear, he's also supplying all the caffeine imaginable. Actually, Steve started a quarter jar. All the quarters go to keeping the lab techs wired."

"But someone is watching him right? After a while Jono starts to practically vibrate and gets tangled in his headphone cord when he's excited over results" commented Gail, her usual grin peeking through.

The door to the apartment swung open to reveal a scattered looking Holly.

"Okay Gail. The hospital and lab and everybody else are finally all working together. Let's get you down there too" called Holly as she and Traci helped haul Gail towards the car.

* * *

Gail made herself comfortable in a bed next to Max. She had a feeling of deja vu, the biggest change being the girl from before on the other side of her and the beds on the opposite side of the room full of kids. Amelia Robbins was a sweet kid. Smart in a way that sort of reminded her of Holly. Chloe was keeping Gail updated on her cellphone so at least that was keeping Gail from losing her mind.

The FBI had compiled their search results with Division 15's missing child reports and were doing their best to let parents know and request access to their child's medical records.

According to Beverly and Jono's analysis, the IV's that they were all hooked up to was starting to filter out the targeted stimulants and sensory enhancing drugs. With the help of her colleagues, Beverly had been able to use the MRIs to create a composite to try and figure out what the scientists had been aiming for. So far, it looked like the drugs were created to target abilities that were already present in each child. They were trying to create a time table as to when the injections had been given in order to try and figure out what Gail had been given. Holly had worked herself to exhaustion and had taken to sleeping in Beverly's "surprising comfortable" rental car every few hours. Gail had taken to bribing Jono with bags of Skittles to make sure that Holly slept and took breaks to eat, like all people needed to. True, he could get them himself since they were from the vending machine after all, but that was all the way over _there_.

Dov and the others had shown up to try and reinterview the kids after they'd had a full night's rest and a couple of decent meals, but it went about as well as could be expected. Dov had made the rookie mistake of promising Amelia she'd be reunited with her Mom. Amelia had shuffled away from him on her bed and told him she doubted it since her Mom actually caught up with the guy that took her and she saw him shoot her. She had no idea who her Dad was so she wished him luck on that front. Dov had tried to give Gail a look (that Amelia would have only missed if she was blind) and had gotten Gail's patented eye roll. Gail decided to share her bag of Chex Mix with the girl for having to endure what might have been the most stumbling interview ever. But there wasn't really a polite way to say " _Can you tell me about your time as an involuntary lab rat?_ " For the most part, Gail was grateful for whatever was in her IV. It had made her brain stop trying to push her eyes out of the front of her head, but the area where her IV was was itching like crazy. Holly had appointed Amelia and Max to gauze paws duty, which the two of them were throughly enjoying. Gail was allowed to snack so long as she didn't scratch. So far, Amelia could do a wicked impression of Gail's glare that had her stopping and Max could snatch her snacks faster than she could blink. She'd lost a bag of Salt 'n Vinegar chips that way. Cara had also dropped by with Oliver and Noelle and brought what Gail guessed were all the stuffed animals and games in the stores. Max had snagged Apples to Apples and had a game going with Gail and Amelia, but Gail couldn't keep her mind from drifting to the case. Whoever was behind this had to scrambling to get rid of any trail that led back to them. Her head was so muddled but she couldn't shake the fact that while they were concentrating on the kids, someone was getting rid of any trail they could follow.


End file.
